the mice

Thank you, looking forward to your photos. Safe travels home!

Marilyn

Thanks for that great photo. Yes, this will be to celebrate my 70th. I figure we will be gone 31 days (retirement is good...). Hoping to fly to Melbourne and do a day trip to the Great Ocean Road, then fly to Sydney for a couple of days prior to the start of the GBR cruise. Celebrity does a 5 day RT to Melbourne prior to our GBR, but doesn't allow for doing the GBR and anything in Melbourne, plus then I'd have to add more days to see Sydney. Of course, this is MY plan....

I have wanted to go to Oz for almost as long as I have been married (currently 32 happy years). In addition to learning to swim and snorkel, I will probably have to learn hypnosis to use on Pete to get him to fly that distance - LOL. Piling up the frequent flier miles right now. I know he's going to love it. Good thing there are a number of sea days to give him some R&R. And I love the Corning Hot Glass shows, it's all good.

Keep on posting. I am loving this.

Happy cruising.

Marilyn

Hi Mahdnc, thanks so much for this blog. We are doing this cruise B2B with New Zealand in October 2019. This will help me not only prepare, but give me info (or ammo?;p) to keep my DH, who is reluctant to go this far or be away so long, onboard with this trip. He loves to snorkel, so will really enjoy that part. Me - I will have to learn to swim and snorkel....

Enjoy your cruise!!

Marilyn

Advert for 50% off for 2nd passenger:

‘cheer on your country at the World Cup,‘

Both sailings are featured, does this mean that they are not selling well?

Saw this thread and decided to read it because we have a Baltics cruise on Journey booked for August, and, since we are not soccer fans, sort of glad I didn't book one of the June cruises. But I am so sorry for what's happened to you.

In regards to this comment, it would seem that Azamara's Baltic cruises for this year are not selling quickly. I was cleaning out some files yesterday and noticed a printout on our August 8 sailing dated early December 2015, which is 2+ years ago. (Didn't book it then but changed to it in Sept 2016 from a 2017 booking). Yet, after all that time, this cruise still has almost half its staterooms available, despite all the promotions offered on it (Nights on Us, this new one, etc). It seems that these 2 "World Cup" cruises have lots of availability as well.

Thanks much!

Happy Holidays!!!

Marilyn

I didn't know there was a roll call for my cruise for some time until I finally realized that the date in Find Your Roll Call is wrong.

That tool lists; Azamara Journey Roll Call - August 11, 2018

If you do finally click on that it will take you to the forum

Azamara Journey Roll Call - 11 Night Romatic Baltic and Golf - August 8, 2018 which is the correct date.

I posted in the Report Bugs and Glitches, and I also used the blue triangle in the 1st post of the forum to report the error, but I am not sure if anyone reads those or who fixes the problem.

And Grandma Cruising, I know you are the moderator, but there's no contact info listed for you so just hoping you read this.

The roll call is pretty quiet but the following cruise, also to the Baltics, is somewhat active, so having the correct date might help others find us who might not realize that a roll call has been started.

Thanks,

Marilyn

Thanks for the suggestions. We have booked at Andersons Boutique Hotel in Copenhagen & the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel in Stockholm. Will let you know what they are like - next year as we are not going until August 2018. At this stage there is no Roll Call for our cruise up.

 

Host Grandma thanks for the tip about the Baltic forum. Lots of information there.

 

If a cruise is departing at 6pm what time would the earliest for boarding be?

 

Cheers

Neliska - I saw this post and wonder if you are on the Azamara Journey August 8, 2018 cruise. If so, there IS a roll call but the Find Your Roll Call tool lists the WRONG date. It lists Azamara Journey August 11, 2018. If you choose that one, it will link you to the roll call.

I am not the roll call starter, but I submitted a request to fix the date in the Glitches forum, and also used the blue exclamation point on the first post of the roll call to report the issue. Hopefully it gets fixed so others can find the roll call.

Marilyn

Oceania already goes to three different ports on the east side plus Palermo on the north. That’s four. Other lines visit Gela, Licata, and Empedocles on the west side opening up different in land opportunities .

Someone posted this on the Azamara forum asking for a circumnavigation of Sicily:

https://www.noble-caledonia.co.uk/tour/1421/circumnavigation-of-sicily/itinerary/?search_url_id=6

Ports they used are Siracusa, Licata for Piazza Armerina, Agrigento, Trapani, Palermo, Lipari, Messina for Taormina. So between this list and the ones you mention, looks like plenty of ports.

We were in Sicily for 10 days in April, driving. It is wonderful - we loved it! And there is still so much more we didn't get to see. We saw the HAL Prisendam docked in Trapani. We've also been on Azamara back in 2009 and had a stop for Taormina. Highly recommend Sicily.

I remember when Rick Steves got his start with his first shows on Public Broadcasting in the US. He was all about what he calls travel through the back door - independent land tours, using public transport and/or rental car, not a tour, and visiting the main cities but exploring the countrysides, staying in local accomodations. Now he has gone totally mainstream - well, that is good business for him.

He promoted the Cinque Terra as a special place, so much so that it is often over-run with crowds. Now he runs a big bus tour organization.

Somehow I have a problem with someone who produces a guidebook on Italy and doesn't include Sicily, but runs organized bus tours in Sicily. What happened to "through the back door" travel?

Only happy that we visited Venice for 3+ magical days back in May 1993 before cruise ships, and Dubrovnik for 3 days, and done about 2 dozen land trips in various places in Europe, so we got to see a lot of places without the crowds. His guidebooks have some merit, but I find doing my own extensive research always leads to a most enjoyable experience for us.

Don't think this is limited to Azamara. Back in May 2007 we took Windstar's Wind Star from Athens to Istanbul. The cruise prior to ours was a charter for nudists; actually I think it was a gay nudist group charter. Perhaps they prefer the smaller ships, or the size is more suitable to a charter.

I found this out quite by accident sometime after we booked. When I mentioned it to one of the crew, they were quite surprised that I knew about this. In speaking to a couple of the crew, I was told that all the seating surfaces were covered, and that they were given the option of working that particular cruise or not. Those who did stay on said it was a bit uncomfortable for some of them.

We were fine, and didn't worry about "catching" anything - and we didn't. The only downside was realizing that that ship didn't suit us.

Re: Palermo - We were just in Sicily for 10 days in April, doing our own touring and driving. I spent a lot of time planning and got a lot of help from the TripAdvisor forum experts. I would say that the highlights are the Capella Palatina (in Palermo itself) and the Cathedral of Monreale, in the hills above Palermo - both are covered in spectacular mosaics (one of them has a website with 360 views - I don't remember which of the 2). The Puppet Museum near the port is fascinating. There are a number of beautiful churches in the city.

Palermo is gritty and crowded, but we did not feel unsafe. We walked everywhere except to Monreale, but at night only in the area near our hotel which was relatively OK. But once we ended up down deserted streets and it felt uncomfortable in the darkness, so we quickly returned to busier streets. However, we were warned of pickpockets being very active on the bus to Monreale. It was recommended that we hire a driver which we did. Not the cheapest option, but very well worth it terms of convenience.

We had a stop in Livorno on a previous cruise and took the train to Lucca for the day - a wonderful day trip. However, we had previously been to Florence for many days, and Pisa. Florence is too ambitious for day trip sprint, IMHO.

Dubrovnik can easily be done on your own - be sure to walk the walls as others have suggested.

Most of all, have a great time!

We weren't going to consider Azamara again because I didn't think we received good value for our upcoming trip--we're doing it solely for the golf. Based on the current promotion prices for the 2018 golf cruises, they are a much better value. Provided my husband enjoys the golf, Azamara might be back on our radar.

The Aug 8, 2018 11 Night Romantic Baltic Copenhagen-Stockholm cruise on which I got the $2728 price drop for a cat 4 OV is a Perry Golf cruise. We are not golfers, but really love this itinerary, esp. having 3 full days in St. Petersburg instead of the usual 2.

I feel silly asking this, but hearing of those receiving good value from this "sale", I'd like to know: is the price that I see when I go to the cruise I wish to take reflective of the "nights on us" or do I have to finish the booking process to see the final price? The cruise I'm interested in is eligible for the sale, and did have a reduction, but only $870 for two (on a 13 night cruise), or $435PP. Certainly not three nights. I really don't get upset by the marketing strategies, just sometimes not sure if I'm reading them right!

Once I found our cruise in the list, I proceeded through the booking process. Since the stateroom category we were booked in was still available, I was able to select a cabin in that same category. The price displayed was significantly lower than what we had originally booked, so it was the sale price.

We are on the Aug 8, 2018 11 Night Romantic Baltic Copenhagen-Stockholm. Booked a 2017 version of this cruise in Feb 2016 but changed to this one in Sept. 2016 (liked the 2018 itinerary better). This Nights on Us promo reduced the price of our cat 4 OV by $2728 for 2. Total now is $7886 making the price per night for 2 people $717. So, for us, this was definitely a sale. Puts the pricing close to a BOGOHO.

 

Just for the record to an above post. The deal between SPG and Marriott is not a done deal. There is currently a Chinese firm that has offered a $14 Billion cash deal to SPG that beats Marriott's $13.6 Billion cash and stock offer. Everything is still on the table and no final deals have been struck as of COB Friday, that I have read.

Not so - according to multiple sources on Thursday afternoon. This is a quote from the NY Times:

"By Thursday afternoon, Anbang and its partners formally withdrew their $14 billion takeover offer for Starwood, ceding the operator of the Westin and Sheraton chains to Marriott in a puzzling turn of events."

It does remain to be seen how the impending Marriott merger will affect the SPG program and its points to airline miles transfer bonus component, but expectations are that integration will take some time.

The SPG Amex card has no FT fees, but the current signup offer has reverted back to 25,000 points now.

All that being said, many bloggers in the miles and points community contend that

1.) the AMEX Platinum is an excellent card for frequent travelers who can take advantage of the benefits that offset the annual fee as Caviargal enumerated.

(BTW- thank you for that info on the cruise benefit - miles and points bloggers don't cover this aspect - searching CC helped me find this thread)

2.) earning points in transferrable programs (Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You points, AMEX membership reward points) is preferable to earning points in one airline because you have more redemption options with multiple airline and hotel partners. This is especially useful as miles and points devaluations (Delta, United, American in the past year alone) are becoming common occurrences.

3.) if you are not earning more than 1.5 cents per mile on your redemptions, you should consider cash back cards, such as the Citi Double Cash card.

 

If anyone can suggest a good Canadian reward card I am very interested too.

You might try following the blog of "Canadian Kilometers" - http://canadiankilometers.boardingarea.com/

I have considered many of the cards and have narrowed the best one for travel and airlines to the BA Visa card which, I believe, has a very aggressive program to seed many miles to new accounts.

 

I do not have the BA Visa (although the huge signup bonus a couple of years ago seemed enticing) because BA is known to have high fees associated with their awards.

Using the Travel Together companion ticket might make sense for a business class flight, but it is not worthwhile to use for economy tickets, due to the high cost of earning it and the associated ticketing fees.

From what I have read on many travel blogs, the best use of BA Avios points is to use them on short-haul flights on Oneworld alliance partners, such as American Airlines. There are many, many miles and points bloggers who have done extensive series on earning and redeeming BA miles - easy Google search.

The best discussions on rewards credit cards can be found on Flyertalk , Boarding Area blogs and Inside Flyer. They are to the miles and points community what Cruise Critic is to cruisers.

Hope this will be of some help.

I've read from a quite a number of sources that the SPG card from AMEX is the best general-purpose card. You can transfer into many airlines' FF programs, and there are bonuses (i.e., if you transfer 20,000 miles into AA, you'll get an additional 5,000 miles bonus). If you google The Points Guy and/or View From A Wing, those two bloggers have various analyses of the different cards.

The miles and points bloggers all seem to promote the SPG Amex as the most valuable points currency, because of the bonus for transferring points to miles. Currently, there is an offer for 35K points for new credit card signups until the end of this month, the highest signup bonus ever offered on this card.

However, you should be aware that SPG (Starwood) is merging with Marriott (expected to close mid-year), so the future of the SPG program is up in the air. This has been covered by various miles and points bloggers, including View from the Wing and The Points Guy.

FYI - Please do be aware that The Points Guy website is owned by Bankrate for several years now, and while they claim that editorial content is not controlled by Bankrate, there has been a substantial increase in credit card affiliate links permeating every post.

You should look at the airlines you are most likely to fly, and determine what alliances they belong to. If it fits your travel plans, you may want to consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, a Visa with no foreign transaction fees and primary rental car insurance, which earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points which can be transferred to a number of airlines such as United, British Airways, Korean, and hotel partners such as Hyatt and Marriott.

Sorry for double post - computer acting slower than me today.

Been to Europe many times in November. Luckily never had much rain, including many days in London!

As for coats, the most useful item I have for travel is a black microfiber anorak with zip-out liner and detachable hood. With proper layering (long sleeve tee or turtleneck, button shirt, sweater, anorak with liner in, scarf, hat, gloves) I can go through winter with this, or remove liner to make it suitable for warmer days.

Nordstrom currently has Anorak with Detachable Hood on sale. Easy to find by searching (not sure posting links allowed).

I have also found an ultralight down vest to be a good new addition to my wardrobe. Ultralight down jacket could serve the purpose of a liner if you can't find a coat with zip-out lining.

Hope this info may be useful.

Been to Europe many times in November. Luckily never had much rain, including many days in London!

As for coats, the most useful item I have for travel is a black microfiber anorak with zip-out liner and detachable hood. With proper layering (long sleeve tee or turtleneck, button shirt, sweater, anorak with liner in, scarf, hat, gloves) I can go through winter with this, or remove liner to make it suitable for warmer days.

Nordstrom currently has Anorak with Detachable Hood on sale. Easy to find by searching (not sure posting links allowed).

I have also found an ultralight down vest to be a good new addition to my wardrobe. Ultralight down jacket could serve the purpose of a liner if you can't find a coat with zip-out lining.

Hope this info may be useful.

Stumbled on this thread while searching for something else, but since we've been in Amsterdam for tulip time I'd like to share some info.

DH and I did land tour Brussels-Amsterdam from April 17-27,2014 with 7 nights based in Amsterdam (day-tripping out from there.) It was an early spring, many of the tulip fields were mostly cut by that point and we had only 1 half day of drizzle, and a 30 minute shower another day. It ranged from warm to cool, never cold. However, we were in Flanders area of Belgium in May 1999, and it was cooler, but again we only had 1 day of rain in 10 days. So agree, weather can unpredictable.

Despite few uncut fields of tulips seen at various points in our trip, Keukenhof was magnificent. Words cannot capture the beauty.

There is much to do in Amsterdam, and many wonderful, easy day trips you can take. We still didn't see all that we would have liked, and we did lots.

As for clothing, the most useful item I have found in all my trips is a microfiber anorak with zip-out lining. I have 2, but one has a detachable hood - I use this one the most, mainly because it is black. With proper layering (long sleeve tee, button shirt, sweater, anorak with liner in, gloves and a hat) I can go through winter with this. Zip out the liner and it works for changeable warmer spring and fall days.

Right now Nordstorm has a Gallery Anorak with Detachable Hood on sale. (don't know if links are allowed). Easy to find with a search. A bit more stylish than Goretex.

Hopefully, this info may help someone.

Enjoy tulip time - hopefully you will be lucky to see more of them than just at Keukenhof.

My husband and I spent a week in Malta in late November 2006. We really enjoyed that week. We rode the Malta buses everywhere and found the history and sights very impressive.

We returned to Malta on an Azamara cruise in November 2009, with only about a 6 hour port stop. You must be on deck for the arrival - just spectacular. We revisited St. John Co-Cathedral and Upper Barracka Gardens where I stood arms length from King Juan Carlos of Spain, and we also visited the Maneul Theatre, which we missed on our week's stay. We were so thankful that we had already spent a week there, because 8 hours or less is not enough time to experience Malta. There is so much to see -Valletta and all its sights, Mdina, the Hypogeum, the catacombs, island of Gozo and the Ggantia Temples, Mosta dome, the craft village, the 3 cities of the Knights of Malta, the harbor cruise, promenade walk, and more. We experienced the St Elmo reenactment and came upon a pageant in Mdina. Even in a week there were places we never got to. Malta was definitely a delightful surprise to us.